Help please!

[martinfan]

If this is not the proper venue for this, please accept my apologies. In short, I've had all of my covid shots and boosters. I got to feeling kind of punk and tested positive for Covid. What is the best way to sanitize my instruments to prevent reinfection? Thank you!

[BGuttman]

Depending on which expert you want to believe, COVID virus lasts between 8 and 48 hours on a hard surface. It is also controlled by silver, so your mouthpiece will help clear it up faster.

Even so, a good bath could make things 100% safe. Use warm, not hot, water (not so hot that you can't soak your hands in it) with some dish detergent. Let soak, scrub with a snake brush, and rinse out thoroughly.

Note that many of the hand sanitizers use isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, so a flush with that could be useful as well. The alcohol will probably remove all your slide lube, so a relube may be necessary after.

If you just came down with COVID, stay off your horn for the 5 days you are supposed to quarantine. It should be safe to resume playing after that.

[JCBone]

No expert but from what I understand, once you are infected you cannot get reinfected with the same variant.

[JCBone]

Depending on which expert you want to believe, COVID virus lasts between 8 and 48 hours on a hard surface. It is also controlled by silver, so your mouthpiece will help clear it up faster.

Even so, a good bath could make things 100% safe. Use warm, not hot, water (not so hot that you can't soak your hands in it) with some dish detergent. Let soak, scrub with a snake brush, and rinse out thoroughly.

Note that many of the hand sanitizers use isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, so a flush with that could be useful as well. The alcohol will probably remove all your slide lube, so a relube may be necessary after.

If you just came down with COVID, stay off your horn for the 5 days you are supposed to quarantine. It should be safe to resume playing after that.

I don't see the harm in playing if you feel ok. Of course it's a bad idea to play if you feel sick but the last time I got Covid I was only sick for a day.

[hyperbolica]

I spray inside and outside of horns and mouthpieces with 90% alcohol. Not sure it's what an expert would do, but I haven't had covid yet.

[robcat2075]

No expert but from what I understand, once you are infected you cannot get reinfected with the same variant.

That will not be the case.

The anti bodies resulting from either a COVID infection or a vaccine will not provide perfect protection against future infection, even from the exact same variant as before. This seems to be largely because they diminish in effectiveness with time. Also not everyone will have a strong immune response in the first place.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9106377/

I think we'll be looking at twice-a-year boosters for a long time.

[JCBone]

No expert but from what I understand, once you are infected you cannot get reinfected with the same variant.

That will not be the case.

The anti bodies resulting from either a COVID infection or a vaccine will not provide perfect protection against future infection, even from the exact same variant as before. This seems to be largely because they diminish in effectiveness with time. Also not everyone will have a strong immune response in the first place.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9106377/

I think we'll be looking at twice-a-year boosters for a long time.

They mention that the shortest recorded reinfection was 20 days. I do not thing the the virus will survive on the instrument for that long.

[Burgerbob]

I played all the way through covid (at home of course). I just cleaned my slides like normal a couple days after symptoms went away.

[Doug Elliott]

Are you as concerned about your toothbrush as you are about your trombone?

[Posaunus]

Are you as concerned about your toothbrush as you are about your trombone?

[robcat2075]

Are people not rinsing out their toothbrush after each use?



CDC: Cleaning and disinfecting your facility

The virus that causes COVID-19 can land on surfaces. It’s possible for people to become infected if they touch those surfaces and then touch their nose, mouth, or eyes. In most situations, the risk of infection from touching a surface is low.

However "low" is not zero. And what is "low"? I find CDC guidance to be often vague.

The most reliable way to prevent infection from surfaces is to regularly wash hands with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces can also reduce the risk of infection.

If the trombone mouthpiece is a concern, I'd think wiping it with an antiseptic mouthwash should be adequate.

For everything else you touch but can't nuke with germ killer... the hand washing and not touching your face is for reducing that transmission.

I think the main message is that COVID isn't something you get by merely touching it; touching it and transferring it to your face is the problem (aside from the greater problem of inhaling it air-born).

[imsevimse]

A Corona-virus can survive five days on metal outside the body, so it could mean you get infected from a trombone but here are no evidence that a person has been infected from a surface. When I bought my trumpet during the pandemic I had it at home for five days before I tested it for the first time just because I wanted to make sure any virus were inactive. Corona virus can be removed with soap and water so I guess if you give your trombone a bath with a lot of soap the virus will be gone in an instant. Save the alcohol and use it for your body instead.

/Tom